


Demons Within (Y)Our Hearts

by The_Rose



Series: Demons Within (Modern/Superhero AU) [1]
Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Established Relationship, F/M, Modern AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25077106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Rose/pseuds/The_Rose
Summary: Maiev wakes up to some bad news, little did she knows that it's going to change her world.
Relationships: Maiev Shadowsong/Illidan Stormrage
Series: Demons Within (Modern/Superhero AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2051802
Comments: 14
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> Here is the last installment for a multi-chaptered fic, after this one, I will circle back to everything I already published, save for one or two one-shots. 
> 
> I tried something a little different for this story, and I hope you'll like it!

“Flash news! We are interrupting those programs for an announcement. This morning, the superhero Stargazer had been found dead by some passerby –”

Maiev turned to look at the television as she heard those words and she raised an eyebrow. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see the screen yet as she was behind it, but she didn’t feel the need to run and see what it was all about. She knew about that hero, Stargazer, but she couldn’t care less about him as he was the kind of hero that was arrogant and who would act mightier than anyone because he had been gifted with the power to save lives. It was really rare, but some people would be born with superpowers and then, it was up to them to decide whether they would be a hero or not.

Maiev hated them.

“ – He had been found in a street, with multiples stab wounds all over his body and in the blood of pool. Different pictures and videos had been taken by the witnesses once the body had been found, and it allowed our searching team to make some interesting discovery –”

Groaning a little more, she regretted having left that channel on as it was one of the worst to broadcast that news. They would stop at nothing to get people to watch them, even showing up uncensored pictures of a dead body and giving away too much information about everyone involved. Sighing, she took her mug in her hands as she walked to the television to change the channel. She couldn’t care less about the death of a superhero, and if it was to hear about his family mourning him, she could pass it. It would be way too depressing.

But as she reached the television, she made the mistake to look at the screen.

“ – Apparently, the superhero Stargazer was a man named Illidan Stormrage and –”

Her mug dropped on the ground as she watched the screen and the picture that the channel was refusing to take out. On it, she saw him, laying on the ground, drowning in his blood as knives were sticking out of his body. The wings coming from his back were broken sorely and the suffering he must have been endured was carved on his face.

Maiev couldn’t take her eyes off the screen as she began to shake. It couldn’t be Illidan. Illidan didn’t have a superpower and he was just a nightguard, not a superhero. Yes, he was late this morning, but it wasn’t unusual. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be Stargazer. It was impossible. She would know it.

Yet, she recognized him on that screen. She had no doubts it was him.

Looking at her phone, she went through his last messages, who was just him telling her goodnight with a little heart before he started his shift. How did it happen? Why would it happen? And now, what could she do?

Finally, she took off her eyes from the screen, mentally taking note of the place the body had been found, and she jumped into her shoes and took a jacket. Then, she began to run out of the flat. She had to see it by herself. It couldn’t be Illidan. It couldn’t! Yet, she didn’t send any messages or tried to call him. Deep down, she knew that it was useless. Lost in her mind, she wasn’t even realizing that she was already running through the streets, going as fast as she could to reach that damned street.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry but you cannot pass,” the cop interrupted her as she tried to run past them. “The road is blocked for the day.”

“Please,” she begged. “I knew him! I need to see him!”

“You aren’t the first person to tell me that,” the cop sighed. “Just leave. Anyway, the body had already been retrieved, we are just cleaning the street.”

He was gone. She had been too slow and it was over. She would never see him again and she will never understand why it happened. Taking her face in her hands, she began to cry as she fell on the ground. They had so much plan together, and even the night before, as he left for his works, he was smiling and kissing her. They were even looking for a new flat to live in. They went on the subject of having children.

But now, he was dead.

Everything was blurry and muffled.

He tried to move his arm, to raise it, but he quickly felt someone pushing it back into what seemed to be a mattress but he didn’t have the strength to fight it back and let it happen. Trying to talk, he could only groan, but at least, it allowed him to perceive the blurry stains turning their head to look at him.

“By all the Gods above and beyond! You’re finally awake!” yelled a voice. “Can you hear me Illidan?”

He groaned what could have been interpreted as a “shut up” and he kept looking around, trying to adjust his vision to the room.

“You really scared us! If we hadn’t noticed the faint heartbeat, you would have died for good,” kept going the voice.

“Shut up please,” Illidan finally whispered, the words barely audible.

“Hey, we thought we were losing you, let me be happy that it isn’t the case.”

“Kayn! Get out of the room!” Another voice interrupted. “You shouldn’t be there.”

“Sorry Akama, I’m leaving, now that you are there.”

The young men finally left the room as he got replaced by an older man, looking disappointed at the doctors in the room.

“You should have put him outside as soon as he stepped in,” Akama sighed.

“Sorry,” replied one of them. “But we tried to. He just kept repeating that he couldn’t let Illidan wake up alone…”

“I’ll talk to him later. Anyway, how is he doing?”

“Pretty good, he’s slowly waking up as you can see. All wounds have been treated, and unless someone stabbed him again, he will live.”

“Great. Thank you for your help.”

After that, Akama turned to look at Illidan, heavily bandaged, and wired to a lot of machinery that was keeping him alive until he would be able to do it on his own. He got closer to the bed and dragged a chair to be able to sit right next to the wounded man.

“Can you talk?” he asked.

“I think,” whispered Illidan, a little louder than before.

Meanwhile, his vision was slowly adjusting and he could see the other man a little better.

“Do you know where you are?”

“I… It’s a hospital…”

“And do you know why you are there?”

“Kayn… Kayn said I was going to die?”

“Yes. We found you, dying in a street this morning. Unfortunately, we couldn’t react in time, and you had been found by passerby first. The news of the death of Stargazer is on every channel currently.”

Illidan groaned a little, it was probably one of the worst things that could have happened to him.

“But there’s something else, some people recognized you and your identity had also been outed. Velen is already preparing a new identity for you.”

“What?” whispered Illidan, his eyes opening wide. “You’re… You’re joking right?”

“No, everyone knows that Stargazer was a man named Illidan Stormrage.”

He groaned louder. It was actually the worst thing that could have happened to him. But it could have been even worse, but he didn’t dare to ask the question, especially that Akama didn’t give him the time to say anything else.

“So, what happened last night?”

“I… I don’t really remember. I know I finished my patrol and I cut all communication between us and I was planning to go home…”

He winced at that thought, he would have loved waking up at his home instead of being in a hospital.

“Then… Then… There was a fight? Someone attacked me?”

His memory was really blurry and he couldn’t really remember how it went.

“He… He was fast and they kept attacking me… I think they talked? I’m sorry, I don’t remember. Just the pain when I got stabbed.”

“Don’t worry, you’re in shock, so it’s no wonder you can’t remember everything,” Said Akama to comfort him.

“But… How am I still alive?”

“That person attacking you wasn’t really smart apparently. They left the knives in your body and it allowed you to not completely bleed it out. But if we had waited a few minutes more before taking care of you, it would have been over.”

Adjusting himself in the bed, Illidan sighed loudly. A thought not leaving his mind, and even if it should have been kept a secret, he had to let it out.

“Akama,” he began. “Are you angry at me?”

The man chuckled out of surprise.

“Why would I be? It happened and there’s nothing we can do to change it.”

“Then, you will be angry now.”

Akama frowned and sat back in his chair, waiting for Illidan to continue.

“I… There’s a woman, her name is Maiev Shadowsong. I need you to bring her here.”

“Illidan,” he sighed. “Your identity had been outed; we cannot allow anyone to visit you. For everyone else, you are dead.”

“I know, but she has to know that I’m alive!”

“Illidan, no.”

“Please! She’s… She’s almost my wife…”

He had whispered those last words, only wanting to cry as he thought of that ring that had been sitting in the drawer next to the bed, as he was waiting for the right time to finally propose to her. But know, he would never be able to do it. The only thing he could do was to convince Akama to let her in so he could at least explain to her the truth and leave.

“Illidan!”

“I know! I know I shouldn’t be in a relationship and even less in one that lasted that long… But please! She doesn’t deserve to think I died like that.”

“Illidan. You had an agreement. You couldn’t get in a relationship with anyone in case we had to transfer you!”

“Akama, I’m perfectly aware of it. That’s why you haven’t heard a word of it until now.”

The older man sighed loudly.

“You should have at least talk to me about it before doing anything, I could have reworked the deal.”

“I was already with her when you became my overseer.”

“You realize that if I allow her to come, I will be forced to out it to Velen? And you can be sure you won’t have as much freedom in your new life.”

“I don’t care. Maiev is the only one that matters to me, and if I can’t have her, I won’t be with anyone.”

Akama looked away, thinking about the situation. Meanwhile, Illidan was clutching on the sheets, tears of anger running down his cheeks as he realized that he was the sole culprit for the situation he was in. If only he hadn’t hidden things to everyone, he would probably still have a chance to stay with Maiev, but now, it was over.

“How long have you known her?”

“We met in college, so almost fifteen years now.”

“And she knows about Stargazer?”

“No, I always hid it from her. Like how I hid her from you.”

“And I guess that if I don’t comply with your demand, you will wreak havoc?”

“I…” began Illidan until he realized what Akama meant. “No, I’m not that thing anymore. I just want to tell Maiev why I have to leave and then, I’ll follow any of your commands.”

Akama sighed again and got up. As he stood, he looked at Illidan who was still silently crying.

“I will see what I can do. But you, you need to rest. You almost died; we don’t want you to worsen your state.”

“Thank you, Akama.”

“You’ll thank me if I don’t get fired,” simply replied the older man as he began to leave the room.

As the possibility that he would see Maiev one last time, Illidan smiled and tried to close his eyes to rest a little. Then, he felt the knife over his heart and the hand gently holding his neck as something was being whispered to him. He opened back his eyes immediately, breathing heavily as he tried to push away the attacker, but he was only in the hospital bed, with just the remnant of the night before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! And we continue a little with this AU! I hope you will like it ^^ 
> 
> Enjoy!

Sitting on the couch, Maiev was mindlessly looking at the floor. There was no sound in the flat. No TV; no radio; and a phone awfully silent that she had shut off on purpose. After all, Illidan wasn’t going to call her anymore, and she didn’t want to deal with anyone contacting her about Illidan’s death. And even less about his secret life as a superhero.

It had been about twenty-four hours now since the news had been on all the news channels.

About twenty-four hours that she discovered that the man she loved was dead after lying to her for so long.

Twenty-four hours since the flat was silent.

She couldn’t remember how she went back to her home, just that the cops who had prevented her to go further gently tapped her shoulder as a way to comfort her. Then, she just wandered through the streets, her mind completely empty of any thoughts, and it wasn’t until she finally closed the door of the flat that her legs finally gave up on her. Yet, she succeeded to crawl to the living room and lay down on the couch, not moving anymore as silent tears rushed down her cheeks. In the morning, she forced herself to get up and reach the kitchen to get something to eat, despite not feeling hungry, and now, here she was, sitting in silence.

What was going to be her life now?

It had been fifteen years that she had been with Illidan and never once she had found about his secret identity. Of course, there are been time when he was acting suspiciously, mostly at the beginning of their relationship when they were in college but he had always given her justification about it. Mostly with how he had a difficult upbringing and was a delinquent, in his own words, until he finally found a way to change himself. Never would she imagine that he had a superpower. And going on with their lives, she had been surprised that he was accepting a simple job as guards and nightguards, yet, his salary was enough to not bother her more than that. But now, she understood that it was all a cover for the superhero activities.

How could have she had been so blind? Did her love for him really make her unable to see it all? And now it was too late.

As another tear rolled down her cheek, she let herself fall back on the couch. Then, she took her phone who was laying next to her and finally light it on after those twenty-four hours, but she quickly dismissed any notifications about messages or calls, she wasn’t ready to deal with any of this. Instead, she opened up the local news, and, as expected, it was all about him.

Illidan, or Stargazer as he was known by the name, had been a renowned hero for over a decade. With the mastery of his fire powers, and wings that allowed him to travel fast, he had been working for the city and the neighboring towns, slowly making himself a name as he was taking down villains and helping the citizens in their mundane tasks. Every week, there would have news about him doing something benevolent for the city, and yet, Maiev would laugh about it as she wasn’t believing that this superhero could really be that good. Little did she know that she was laughing about it directly in his face, and yet, he had never said anything about it. Just smiling or agreeing with her.

Scrolling through the news, she noticed one talking about a ceremony that would be held for him, commemorating him and everything he did.

“He doesn’t deserve it,” said a little voice in her mind.

It made her frown. Even when knowing that Illidan and Stargazer were the same people, she couldn’t stop to be distrustful of the hero, and she became afraid that those fifteen years spent together would now be stained by that reveal. Why her? Why now? Why would be life so cruel to her? She put back the phone on silent and put it on the floor as she let her arm hang from the couch and that she closed her eyes. In that silent flat, all that she wanted was to die.

Knocks on the door got her to open back her eyes right away.

Intrigued, she sat back on the couch as she wasn’t expecting anyone. Especially that she had taped to the door a message saying that she wouldn’t see anyone, knowing her friends would probably try to come and see her if she wasn’t replying from their texts and calls. Maybe that one of them decided to go against her wishes and still went there. Looking towards the hallway, Maiev didn’t move, wanting to pretend that she wasn’t there, but more knocks were heard against the door. For a good five minutes, she stayed still, only wanting to check how determined that person was, and as the knocks kept happening repeatedly, she finally got up. Slowly, she walked through the hallway until she reached the door, and looked at the peephole, only to see two men wearing black suits and sunglasses. Frowning, she hesitated to open the door, but as they knocked once again, she sighed and turned the doorknob.

“What?” she asked, as she only opened the door from a few inches.

“Miss Shadowsong?” One of them asked.

“Yes. What is it?”

She was sounding both angry and tired, only wanting those men to leave her alone and she hoped that her voice would be a good enough clue for them.

“This is about Mr. Stormrage –”

The door closed on them. On the other side, Maiev let herself fall on the floor, her back against the door. She couldn’t deal with that right now. She couldn’t.

“Please, Miss Shadowsong,” continued the man. “We need you to come with us, this is important.”

“I refuse,” she yelled. “Leave!”

“This is about Illidan. We really need you to come with us.”

“Leave!”

Her shouts were getting angrier, and if it were to continue, she knew she was going to get into a fight with them. She wasn’t going to let them keep doing that, and she would make them regret.

“Please, he was the one to ask for your presence,” specified the other man. “There are a few things you need to be aware of, so please, come with us.”

At the mention that it was a directive from Illidan, Maiev rose her head. Did he really plan that he could die? And that in that case, something would happen to her? But what would that be? Could it be that he left something for her? If she wanted the answers, she had no other choices but to follow the men.

Slowly, she got up again and opened back the door, this time stepping outside.

“Alright, I will follow you.”

They nodded with contentment and one of them went first, as the second told Maiev to follow with a simple movement from his hand, and he brought up the rear. In silence, they went down the building and once they had passed the front door, the first one opened the door of a car and invited Maiev inside. Having no other choice, she got inside and sat on the back seat, leaning against the window.

As the car began to move, she looked mindlessly through the window, wondering if it had really been a good idea to follow them. But before she could completely think about it, the man sitting on the other side on the seat began to talk.

“I guess that you heard about the news,” he said. “About the fact that Illidan is Stargazer.”

She winced and kept looking at the streets passing by.

“I did.”

“And did you already know about it before yesterday?”

Maiev sighed loudly.

“No. I wasn’t aware of anything,” she replied in a whisper, realizing how much she was hurt to have been left in the dark.

“Are you sure about that?”

Her fists closed before she could realize it. Of course, she was sure! How would she not remember such things?

“I am,” she replied dryly.

“You know, you won’t be able to hide the truth from us, so it’s better if you are honest with us from the get-go,” kept talking the man. “And you should at least be aware that this relationship was forbidden?”

Sweat rolled down on Maiev’s back, especially as she noticed that the door had been locked, meaning she was stuck in that car now. She even tried to open the door herself to check it, but no, she had been trapped. Trying to get up, she got as far as possible from the man and glared at him.

“Are you threatening me?” she growled as her eyes shone. “Where are you bringing me?!”

“Miss Shadowsong, please calm down,” just said the man, yet, raising an eyebrow at her sudden outburst.

“I won’t let you threaten me!”

The car suddenly stopped moving, and Maiev almost lost her balance.

“We are here,” announced the second man who had been driving.

Unfazed by Maiev’s act, the first one got out of the car, and went to open her door, finally freeing her and Maiev got to see that they had brought her up to the hospital. She frowned as it was the last place she had expected to go. But before she could voice her concern, an old man reached her, smiling gently.

“Maiev I presume?” he asked

“Yes…” she answered after a small silence.

“Good, I am Akama, Illidan’s overseer. Please, follow me,” he quickly said, already turning back towards the entrance of the hospital, inviting Maiev to follow him.

Having no other choices, she quickly walked after Akama as he went through the hallway of the hospital.

“Overseer?” Maiev finally got to ask as she caught up to him. “What do you mean?”

“To become who he is, Illidan had to make a deal with the agency,” Akama began to explain, not saying some obvious words out loud as the hallway wasn’t empty. “It was mostly to regulate his life and, as his overseer, I was meant to be the link between him and the agency. It’s my role to make sure he was respecting the rules, and eventually help him to break from some.”

The man-made a small break as he sighed.

“Well, if he dared to talk to me about those things.”

With the quick look he gave to Maiev, she immediately understood what he meant.

“It’s about me, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” replied Akama in all honesty. “He couldn’t get into a relationship, that was one of the rules. But he had been quite good to hide it for fifteen years. We wouldn’t have known about it if he hadn’t told us about you yesterday.”

Maiev stopped walking as she proceeded the words. From what she had gathered, Illidan died during the night, but would he really have talked about her despite being a secret?

“Yesterday? Are you sure?”

“Oh yes, he was very adamant to get you there, so please, be gentle with him.”

Before she could fully understand the meaning of those words, Akama opened a door and showed the way to Maiev. Slowly, she stepped inside the hospital’s room and saw him, Illidan, sleeping in the bed. Tears ran down her face as she noticed his chest peacefully rising.

“How?” she cried.

“His wounds were bad, but not fatal,” explained Akama. “We succeeded to save him just in time, and as long as he doesn’t do anything dangerous for the next few weeks, he won’t die.”

Hearing the voices, Illidan slowly woke up from his nap and turned his head towards the entrance, noticing his beloved.

“Maiev?” he asked, catching her attention.

Almost dragging her feet, she went to the bed, still crying. Immediately, Illidan opened his arms in a welcoming embrace, but Maiev just stayed still next to the bed. Until she finally found the words.

“You son of a bitch,” she cried harder. “What didn’t you say anything?!”

And finally, she let herself fall on him as he took her in her arms, laughing at the insult.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that, I know.”

“I will make you pay! How dare you!”

Yet, she was clutching harder on his shirt, wetting it from her tears and Illidan knew she wasn’t meaning any of her words. He gently shushed her, trying to calm her down and he looked back at Akama, still standing at the door.

“How much time do we have?” Illidan inquired.

“I haven’t negotiated it, just take all the time you need,” the old man smiled.

“Thank you,” replied Illidan as Akama left the room, closing the door behind him.

Maiev was still desperately holding him, afraid that if she was letting him go, he would disappear once again.

“Hey, Maiev, calm down,” he whispered to her, grabbing her around the chest. “I’m here, I’m here.”

Slowly, he pulled her towards him, guiding her on the bed, and soon, she was laying down next to him, and in his arms. As she calmed down, Illidan whispers a few love words to her as he had never felt so happy to have her with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Here's the update for this week!

“Come in,” answered the man as a knock was heard on the door of the office.

With the head low, Akama entered the room. He had waited for fifteen minutes in front of it, bracing himself and searching for the words to use as now, Illidan’s future was entirely in his hands. Standing in the middle of the room, he quickly bowed in front of his boss, sweats dripping in his back.

“I brought the woman,” he said. “Thank you to have accepted his request Velen.”

“Maiev Shadowsong, right?” Asked Velen, his hand already on the mouse of his computer.

“Yes.”

Velen hummed as he opened the files on the computer, quickly reading through the information they had gathered on the woman. After all, it had been strange that Illidan could have succeeded to hide her for so long; but they were mostly worried about the woman’s true intentions to have accepted a relationship with him.

“Went exclusively to woman-only schools,” Velen read out loud, skimming through the files. “Had an accident when she was seventeen, but no files about it, and then, ended up in college, the same one as Illidan. No known superpower or strange abilities; she has a degree in the medical field, yet she is currently unemployed…”

“Well, with how much we give to Illidan, I don’t think she really needs a job,” chuckled Akama as he remembered the face of Illidan when he saw the latest raise they gave him.

“Apparently, she passed all the tests to join the police, but it went nowhere,” kept reading Velen as he ignored Akama interruption.

“Oh, that’s easy to explain, Illidan stopped her before she could accept. He knew that she would probably put herself in danger, but mostly, that she would end up having to cooperate with us,” explained Akama. “And as he didn’t want her to find out about Stargazer, he convinced her to find something else.”

Velen kept scrolling through the files, adding the new information by himself to complete them. If he wanted to assure the safety of everyone in his agency, he had to know everything, but it wasn’t easy when his best employee suddenly decided to hide a relationship of fifteen years. And if Illidan had succeeded to do that, what else was he hiding? Who else was hiding stuff from him? Especially with how much of a role model Illidan had become for the young hero.

“So, it really seems that she couldn’t have met Illidan before college, and it matches with what he told us… Were you really not aware of it?”

Akama felt the gaze of his boss, who was finally looking at him, and it made him sweat a little more. He was perfectly aware that he had failed at his job, and he was even surprised that he hadn’t been fired already as if there had been one hero they had to keep on a strict leash, it was Illidan.

“Absolutely not,” replied Akama. “When I became his overseer, there was nothing in his files and when we first talked to each other, he didn’t say a word about that. I think that even Magtheridon didn’t know about Maiev.”

Velen groaned loudly as he rubbed his face, remembering that one particular employee.

“And we fired him for less than that… He was really an incompetent brute, good riddance.”

Akama rolled his eyes at the mention of his predecessor. From what Illidan had told him, he ended up filling an anonymous complaint about him, as apparently, the man would often mistreat Illidan and refusing to treat him like a human being, what Illidan needed the most at that time, and as soon as it was heard there had been a complaint, Velen’s office got filled by people wanting to add on how awful Magtheridon had been to them all. In less than a week, he had been fired from his job and the agency, allowing Akama to finally take care of Illidan. Thinking about the treatment he had gotten from his previous overseer, it wasn’t surprising Akama that Illidan refused to talk about Maiev, despite that they should have been together for a few years when he got the job.

“Now that I think about it… Could it be that Azzinoth knew something?” asked Akama, as a brief flash of lucidity got him.

Velen raised an eyebrow as his eyes went back on the files. How could he forget about Azzinoth? Probably the only man who had been able to get Illidan to open up and slowly changed. Taking his phone, Velen quickly dialed a number on it and put the call on speaker as he waited for the man to answer.

“Hello Velen,” quickly answered the man. “Could you please be fast? I’m with a patient currently.”

“Oh, sorry to bother you, but this is important. It’s about Illidan.”

A sad sigh was heard from the phone.

“Don’t worry, I already talked with him and we planned a session for tomorrow, it was the fastest that I could do. I mean, almost dying is one hell of an experience and it doesn’t surprise me he asked after me –”

“No, this isn’t about that,” quickly interrupted Velen. “We already know that you’ll see him tomorrow, but we were wondered about something else. Do you know Maiev Shadowsong?”

Silence answered him until Azzinoth spoke again.

“So, he finally told you?”

“Finally?! Finally?! How long have you known about that?!” Velen broke, angry that he had missed that information for so long.

“Since the beginning, I even encouraged him to get in that relationship,” proudly answered the man. “You wouldn’t believe how it actually helped him. It seems that Maiev’s presence helped him to control better his murderous impulses and I’m pretty sure he fell in love on the first day and –”

“Stop rambling,” groaned Velen. “And why didn’t you say anything to us?! You knew he was under oath and that he couldn’t break it without our consent.”

“And you know the rule,” replied Azzinoth with a snarky voice. “Unless Illidan expressly tells me that he will be a mortal danger to himself or others, I have no obligations to tell you what happened during his therapy.”

“He was breaking his promise!”

“But did anyone die from this relationship?”

“He almost dies!”

“But it wasn’t because of Maiev. To me, it sounds more like the attacker had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him, it’s completely unrelated to Maiev. So no, I had no reason to talk about it.”

As Velen began to mutter loudly between his teeth, his interlocutor sighed loudly and kept talking.

“Listen Velen, I know you don’t mean to be bad, and that you really care about everyone in the agency, despite that it makes you look like a way too over-controlling and overbearing mother. Probably because of what happened to Kil’Jaeden and Archimonde –”

“Just shut up, I don’t need you to do an analysis of my life” interrupted Velen.

“ – Alright, alright. But you need to trust them more. Yes, you want to protect Illidan and I understand that, but you never talked with him at that time. We suddenly threw him back in the middle of a crowd, acting as if everything was normal, and with Magtheridon as an overseer. He needed her! She kept him calm and allowed him to stay in control, way more than any of us was able to do.”

“Yet, it doesn’t excuse the fact that he kept it hidden from us.”

“You know what, he wanted to tell Akama. He was seriously considering it as he wanted to change the term of the contract, but unfortunately, Magtheridon left a bitter taste and Illidan couldn’t say anything. If I remember correctly, Illidan got told in his face that “He was a monster unworthy of love.” so yeah, I don’t blame him for his silence.”

Putting down the phone on the desk, Velen took his face in his hands and rubbed it vigorously, wondering how much did he fail in the last years.

“If only I could fire him a second time,” he muttered.

“And otherwise, what do you plan to do? With Illidan?”

“We need to think about it,” replied Velen. “We’ll warn you about it when it’s the time. And we are going to have a little conversation about all of this the next time you get here.”

“I only did my job,” said Azzinoth. “Now, if you excuse me, my patient will refuse to pay for his therapy if I spend the hour on the phone.”

And before anyone could add anything, he hanged off, leaving Velen and Akama in a silent room. It took them some time to proceed with everything that they had learned, both feeling hurt with how Illidan hadn’t trusted them enough to tell them about Maiev. But it was too late to change anything.

“So,” finally said Akama, breaking the silence. “What do we do with him? His identity is out; everyone thinks he’s dead, but we have no idea who’s the attacker is and where they are. How can we know that they won’t try to attack someone else?”

Velen stayed silent, his eyes locked on his desk as he was thinking about all the possibilities they had at that moment. He couldn’t afford to take the wrong decision, not again.

“You just brought her in right?” he asked Akama, looking at him.

“Yes, I also asked to give them some intimacy, unless there would be a problem with Illidan’s health.”

“Alright, we are going to leave them alone for today. Tomorrow, we’ll talk with Illidan and decide about our next step.”

“Understood,” smiled Akama, happy to give some peace to Illidan for the moment.

As Velen dismissed the overseer, Akama made his way towards the door, feeling lighter as it what like a weight had been removed from his shoulder, but before he could completely leave, Velen called him one last time.

“And Akama, please breath, I won’t fire you,” specified the boss. “There’s no reason for me to do that when Illidan fooled us all, so don’t faint in the hallway please.”

With a chuckle, Akama left the room, closing the door behind him. And finally, he took a deep breath.

Softly, Illidan was caressing Maiev’s cheek, smiling stupidly as he looked at the sleeping woman. She had been exhausted from the rollercoaster of her emotions, and as soon as she finally found herself in Illidan’s arms, she found peace and fell asleep. Illidan didn’t care about it, despite that he knew he had so much to tell her, and just enjoyed having her with him. When he was thinking of how close he had been to die, without being able to tell her how he loved her one more time, he hated himself. He should have told her the truth, about him being a superhero. After all, everyone knew it could be a really dangerous job, and it had been long ago that the deaths couldn’t be counted on the fingers of a hand, and she should have been prepared. But now, what would happen to them? He had no idea.

As if she had felt Illidan’s inner turmoil, Maiev slowly opened her eyes, only to witness her lover furiously narrowing his brows as he was trying to find a solution that would make everyone happy. Such an impossible task.

“Hey,” she whispered, getting him out of his thoughts.

“Hey,” he replied, with a small chuckle as he brought his face to hers.

Their lips met. For them, it was like an eternity had happened since their last kiss, and it was like they would kiss for the next eternity. Once again, she desperately clutched on his clothes, but also his face as she needed to reassure herself that it was him; it was Illidan; her Illidan; and that he was alive. She couldn’t imagine her life without him, not anymore, and she only wanted to keep him with her forever. Nothing would separate them again.

“I love you,” he whispered as they finally broke apart.

“Why didn’t you tell anything? And all those times I’ve been awful to you, spitting on all of your hard work?”

“I didn’t care. It was me that you were loving, not Stargazer, and it was enough for me.”

“What is going to happen now?” she asked, realizing that unfortunately, they wouldn’t be stuck at that moment forever.

Illidan sighed as he hugged her, not ready to say those words to her.

“I don’t know. I… I broke a pretty big promise,” he nervously laughed. “And now, everyone thinks that I’m dead… I… I…”

No, no matter how hard he was trying, those words wouldn’t leave his throat. But as Maiev was the one to hug him more, he knew he had to be honest with her.

“I might need to leave,” he finally answered. “Getting far, far away from her and getting a new identity, a new hero aliases. A new life.”

Once again, he gently caressed her face, smiling at her as tears began to roll down his cheeks.

“I can’t promise you that you will be part of it,” he specified, breaking down.

“Please, tell me you’re joking,” she could only ask, feeling the tears coming back to her eyes.

“Sorry,” he simply replied, hugging her harder.

“No, please, no!” she cried against him. “I don’t want to lose you again!”

“I don’t want either!”

“I… I won’t let you go,” affirmed Maiev, trying to stop her tears. “I love you, please, stay!”

Silence answered her as Illidan kept sobbing.

Deep down, he knew that if he couldn’t stay with Maiev, it wouldn’t end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Like "Parental Instinct" and "I hope to see you again", it's the last chapter before 2021, but I can mostly confirm that this story will have a bonus chapter in December, but don't take my words for granted. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading, see you next week!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> And we continue Demons Within and I hope you'll like it!
> 
> See you next week for a new part of the My(iev) Verse!
> 
> Enjoy ^^

The ringing sounds were echoing through Maiev’s head as she looked at the cashier, taking something, ringing it, and putting it on the other side, only for the woman to grab it and carefully put it in the bag that she was carrying. Adjusting the beanie on her head and moving the scarf to hide her mouth, Maiev discreetly glanced at her surrounding, checking the face of the people around her as she needed to know if anyone could recognize her, as, after all, she went to her usual supermarket to run her errands that day, and she just didn’t want to have a conversation with anyone, especially not about Illidan. It hadn’t been a week that the news of the death of Illidan Stormrage, also known as the superhero Stargazer, had been everywhere, and not even a week that she discovered that he had survived the attack. And yet, no matter how happy she had been to learn that he wasn’t dead, she was feeling completely dull about the situation, not sure how to react.

First of all, there was the possibility that she was spending her last day with Illidan, before he would be forced to leave the city and take on a new life and identity, far away from her. And after the rollercoaster that she had experienced that week, she didn’t want it to happen at all. She wanted to stay with him, to learn who he really was, and love him as much as she always did, but the problem was that she felt as if she was the only one fighting for their relationship. The few times they had talked about it, Illidan always said that he had no control over it and that he’ll have to accept whatever fate the higher authority would decide for him. Yet, she wasn’t going to let them control Illidan like a puppet, and she was well-decided to have a word in his fate too.

Along with that, she was also feeling really angry, and most of the anger was directed toward Illidan and his lies. For over fifteen years they had known each other, spending all their time together and falling in love. How could he hide something as important as the fact that he was a superhero? Or that he had superpowers? How many lies had he told? Was there more that she had to discover? But more importantly, was he only thinking about telling her at some point? Or was he simply planning to spend his entire life with her without telling her once? In the end, he didn’t even have that choice as someone else forced him to reveal the truth against his wishes. And no matter how much she knew that she should be hating the one who tried to kill her love, deep down, she was angry at Illidan himself for all of that, and more than once, she surprised herself by thinking that he was deserving it.

Once again, she quickly shook her head and got rid of those awful thoughts. This wasn’t something that she could think about the one she was loving, even when his lies had been hurting her, but also, she was pretty certain that she knew what she was thinking that. She always had a distrust about the superheroes, that she couldn’t explain, and unfortunately, as Stargazer had been the biggest hero of those last years, he had been the one that she was distrusting the most. There hadn’t been a single time where she hadn’t thought that there was something wrong with that hero, but now, she had her answer. He was the one sharing her life, openly lying to her. Deep down, she was recognizing Illidan, but she had never fully made the link, and even knew she kept being angry at the hero when she shouldn’t have.

“It’ll be 57.89,” said the cashier, pulling Maiev out of her thoughts.

“Oh, yes, I’ll pay by card,” she quickly replied as she showed said card.

Tapping on the screen of the checkout, the student activated the card reader and Maiev put her card in it and waited for it to be detected so she could add her pin to conclude the transaction, and while she was waiting for it, she didn’t notice the man at the other checkout, furrowing his eyebrows as he kept looking at her. The beanie and scarf were effectively hiding Maiev’s face, and yet, the doubt that it could be the woman convinced the man to reach her.

“Maiev?” he asked as he went to her checkout.

At the mention of her name, she flinched and quickly glanced at the newcomer, but as she turned around, she didn’t recognize him at all, and she tried her best to not glare at him right away. After all, if he knew her name, she must have known him.

“Yes?” she only asked, hoping that no one else around them could know her.

“I knew I recognized you,” he smiled brightly as he leaned against the counter facing the checkout, where the shop had put snacks, packs of gums, and even pocket knives. “It’s me, Alexius, we were in college together.”

The name was just ringing a really distant bell, but Maiev simply smiled back with politeness, only to be interrupted by her cashier.

“Mister, please do not lean on this,” he told Alexius. “And please, leave the place for the customers who still have to go through the checkout. Thank you.”

The man quickly agreed and removed himself from the line, but stayed closed as he waited for Maiev. She discreetly rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but she realized that there was no way to avoid the conversation and instead, she braced herself and followed the man as they exited the supermarket. And obviously, he didn’t wait for more to once again talking to her.

“Long time no see, isn’t it?” he was laughing. “About ten years no?”

“Probably,” she simply replied, only having a vague memory of Alexius as they had been a classmate with whom she hadn’t really conversed during all of her years in college.

“So, what are you doing now? I remember that you and Illidan were always spending time together and the class had a bet going on as to when you would get together for good,” he said with a sad smile that Maiev didn’t notice. “How long did it last between you?”

Maiev sighed as she looked away.

“We never broke up,” she only said, hoping that he wouldn’t insist and discover that Illidan wasn’t dead.

“Oh damn, so you’ve been single for only a week, not too hard?”

Maiev furrowed her eyebrows at that sentence, hating the fact that he immediately commented on her relationship without asking further questions. How dare he? Even if she couldn’t blame him to not know the truth.

“You could always come to my flat if you need someone to talk about it,” he finally said, with a hopeful smile.

Maiev stopped walking as she realized what he meant, and she only turned toward Alexius, fire in her eyes.

Laying down in the hospital bed, Illidan was resting, just as everyone had advised him to do if he wanted to get back his strength and just leave the hospital for good. Yet, as sleep had taken him for a nap, he became agitated, groaning and moving his body, and he wasn’t even waking up. Deep in his subconscious, he was once again the prey of the nightmares that the awful night had created, and a faceless opponent was attacking him relentlessly and no matter how hard he was trying to defend himself; he felt the knives entering his skin to stay in it. And once he remembered the feeling of one of the blades over his heart, he jumped awake.

Putting a hand over his heart, Illidan’s breath began faster as he checked his chest, and yet, as he should have expected, there was nothing, but for the scars of the stab wounds. It had only been a nightmare, as usual, and he was fine, in the safety of the hospital. And to add to it, the agency even hid guards all around the place to make sure that no one could reach him, and the number of people aware that he had survived was less than twenty people. No one would attempt his life as long as he would be there.

As he calmed down, Illidan finally noticed the intruder in the room. With his head resting on his arms, and his arms crossed on the mattress to be used as a pillow, Kayn was sleeping as well. Once again, the young men had breached into the room, probably against Velen and Akama’s wishes, and stayed close to Illidan. With a faint smile, Illidan put his hand on the young men’s head and gently brushed his hair while he shook his head, condemning his action yet, without being able to really do it as he was highly appreciating the gesture from his pupil despite that it had been forbidden to get in contact with Illidan, for his safety.

“Kayn wakes up,” Illidan finally said, gently shaking his shoulders. “You should run before Akama or worst, Velen, get here.”

The young man slowly opened his eyes, waking up not without difficulties from his slumber, and gradually, he remembered where he was and why. Although he was in the wrong and shouldn’t have been there, Kayn jumped awake once he noticed that Illidan was the one to wake him up. But despite being caught, the young man didn’t look embarrassed at all and instead, immediately spoke loudly.

“Illidan, are you alright?!”

Right away, Illidan slightly leaned backward, as Kayn could be really loud when he wasn’t caring about the volume of his voice, and slightly winced but not enough for Kayn to notice it.

“I’m alright, I’m alright,” sighed Illidan. “But what are you doing here, again?”

“I’m protecting you,” proudly replied Kayn, unaware that if anyone with a higher rank than him was getting in the room, he could get in trouble. “I will never let anyone hurt you again.”

“Please Kayn,” Illidan chuckled. “I’ve been working as a hero for over fifteen years now and you know I had my fair share of fights even before that. If that attack didn’t kill me, nothing will.”

“Stop joking with that! I discovered that you were dead as I was going to school through the news!”

“I think that everyone learned about it that way, and don’t worry they told me how you rushed here with Kor’vas and Altruis and I really appreciate it.”

“You promised to not leave until we would get appointed as real heroes!”

“And I won’t, calm down,” gently said Illidan as he patted the young man back. “I’m safe here and I will never let my guard down again, so you don’t have to worry. I’ll be there to see all three of you become really good heroes.”

Yet, despite the reassuring words of Illidan, Kayn muttered something under his breath and looked away, probably thinking that Illidan was only lying to him, just like so many adults did in his life before and that he couldn’t trust anyone. Feeling it, Illidan repressed the sigh and got closer to Kayn, speaking softly.

“I’ll always be there, I promised it and I will keep it. And I already told you, if I ended up fine, there’s no reason that you won’t.”

Kayn’s eye began to shine as tears took over them and before Illidan could see it, the young man was hugging him as he was fighting back the tears. Immediately, Illidan hugged back, wondering for a moment how awful it would have been if he had really died that night, and at that exact moment, he realized he really needed to stay alive to help those people. It was necessary.

“Feeling better?” he asked as he gently pushed Kayn away, who simply nodded to say yes. “Good, now use that super speed of yours to not be caught by anyone, or you will be in trouble.”

“Get well soon,” Kayn only said as he disappeared right away, sheets flying on his path.

And as soon as he had left the room, Maiev showed up at the entrance of the door furrowing her eyebrows as she put back her hair in place, looking around the place suspiciously. As Illidan saw her, a smile immediately spread over his face and he opened his arms to welcome her. Yet, the woman was still so intrigued by the sudden air blow that she didn’t notice it right away.

“I just felt a really strong gale, what was that?” she asked Illidan.

Her voice was calm, and yet, Illidan noticed an ounce of worry in it, probably that she was scared that something else could try to attack him and take him away from her. But as Illidan knew that it was nothing, he smiled and replied to her.

“Oh, it was just Kayn who sneaked into the room again, don’t worry about it.”

“Kayn?” she asked, making Illidan realize that Maiev hadn’t met the young man yet.

“A teenager that I’m mentoring,” he quickly explained. “He might become a really good hero if he learns to respect the rules.”

With those last words, Illidan slightly shook his head but with a fond smile on his face. Meanwhile, Maiev reached his bed and went to sit on the chair that was next to it, putting the grocery bag on her lap and she began to take out what she had bought earlier on.

“They didn’t have your favorite brand so I had to take another one for the crackers, and there was a promotion on the soda so I took more of them,” she said, showing up said groceries and putting them on the little table next to the bed. “I also found a few books and magazines so you don’t get bored to death during your recovery.”

“Thank you so much,” smiled Illidan as he grabbed the first book to quickly check through it, also perfectly aware that he was probably going to spend an awful lot of time in that bedroom. “It looks really great and… Maiev? Are you alright?”

As he had raised his head to look back at her, he noticed that she was frowning, looking at the bag, and not moving at all. Then, she put her hand inside the bag and took out a pocket knife, the same that the market was selling at the checkout but she knew that she didn’t buy any of those.

“I… I don't know where it’s coming from,” she told him, holding the object in front of her face. “Oh damn, thankfully they didn’t check the bag or they wouldn’t have let me get in your room.”

“Maybe it was already in the bag and you didn’t see it when you put the groceries in it?”

“Maybe…”

Looking at Maiev, clearly bothered by something, Illidan frowned a little, trying to find out what was on her mind.

“Besides that, are you sure you’re alright? You seem… Off, today?”

“Oh,” she softly whispered. “No, it’s just that I ran into a former classmate at the market, who was remembering us from college.”

At that mention, what was left of Illidan’s smile immediately dropped.

“Did… Did they ask about my superhero identity?”

“Absolutely not,” sighed Maiev. “They were more interested in the fact that I was technically single…”

Before Maiev could add anything else, one of the flowers of the bouquet that was decorating the room, on the same table where she had put the groceries, suddenly burst into flames, only leaving ashes falling into the vase and on the table.

“What…?”

“My bad,” quickly intervened Illidan, reaching the bouquet and making sure that the rest of the flowers wouldn’t burn everything as he pinched the top of the stem between his fingers. “Anyway, I guess that you turned them down…”

“Absolutely not. I have a date tonight,” groaned Maiev, putting her head back to look at the ceiling. “Seriously Illidan?”

“Sorry,” he quickly muttered. “I… I could understand if you were accepting after all my lies.”

“Hey,” she replied as fast as she could, putting a hand over his own. “Yes, I am hurt that I actually barely knew things about you, but I love you and I only want to be with you. I’m not even sure that I would have gotten with someone else if you had really died.”

Fighting back the tears, Illidan grabbed Maiev and pulled her on the bed to hug her, and she quickly hugged him back as she adjusted herself over him so her weight wouldn’t hurt him. And as their lips found each other, the door opened once again and three men entered the room.

“Illidan, miss Shadowsong, good, you are there,” said Velen as he was leading. “It is time to have a little conversation.”

Behind him, Akama and Azzinoth were following him and Illidan felt a sense of dread taking over him as he knew what it meant.

His fate was finally going to be decided.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Unfortunately, English isn't my first language so if someone is interested in becoming my beta-reader for the language, hit me up on my Tumblr!  
> Or if you just want to talk about WoW, my fics, someone else fics, or anything, you can still hit me up there!
> 
> https://thewritingof-therose.tumblr.com/
> 
> or on Discord
> 
> https://discord.gg/nvKggwc (An Illidan/Maiev Discord)
> 
> Later!
> 
> (Comments are welcomed and appreciated :D)


End file.
